Chapter 32
These past few weeks have flown by for Gene.
Thanksgiving with Toshiko was… interesting, to say the least. Toshiko absolutely loved his parents, and got along splendidly with his mother.
Of course she asked Toshiko about any future plans—not specifically saying anything about kids, but hinting at it—and Toshiko simply said, “Oh, I can’t think of that right now, especially when I’m still working on my career as a singer.
” Gene was thankful Toshiko knew how to navigate such a difficult topic, especially when he’d never discussed such things with her. And, frankly, I kinda don’t want to.
His own birthday came and went, too. Now he’s twenty-three, the same age as Ray.
All of the Dusty Brooms celebrated with him at their house in Lake Orion, and so did Toshiko, still wanting to spend as much time with him as possible.
While being with her is nice—she is his girlfriend, after all, and he enjoys her company—he can’t help but yearn for more time with Ray.
Toshiko’s presence makes that difficult.
It’s like when she visited during the summer all over again.
His mind has been so torn. He misses Ray.
He misses the intimacy they shared together during the tour.
But doing anything with Ray makes Gene a complete piece of shit for cheating on Toshiko.
Look how things ended up with Ray and his own girlfriend.
Toshiko doesn’t deserve that. She deserves someone who cares for her, who’ll put aside time for her, to show her compassion.
Gene wants to do good for her. But his desire for Ray burns a hole in his chest.
Weed helps dull the pain, though. Same with smack.
At the moment, Gene and the Dusty Brooms are in Los Angeles again.
Maurice is home back in Michigan, as he’s not really needed for this short week-stay they have here.
But Nicky came with them, preparing for his court date in a couple days.
Apparently Carol is using this time while the Brooms are away to grab most of her stuff at their house.
She might not be able to grab everything, but Gene hopes she can.
She does have a whole week to do so, after all.
The Dusty Brooms are seated at a table with a large microphone hanging from above, and a DJ across from them—a radio interview. They haven’t done one since before the tour, and with all the news since, it’s about time they spill some info.
“Now, Ray, if I may ask,” the DJ says, “Could you give us some more insight on your break up with your girlfriend, Carol Knight? I’d like to hear it from you yourself, to clear up any rumors.”
Gene looks at Ray, watching him grimace.
Gene’s heart beats faster, knowing he’s feeling the same sort of anxiety as his best friend.
“We weren’t right for each other,” Ray says, looking down at the table.
“We tried to make things work, I guess, but… I wasn’t feeling any sort of spark with her anymore.
So, in the end, us separating was for the better. ”
“Was there someone else involved? A mistress, perhaps?” the DJ asks curiously.
“Um…” He looks at Gene, asking with his eyes a question he doesn’t know the answer to.
Of course they can’t admit that they have done anything together to the public.
But they also never really had much of a chance to come up with some sort of lie to tell, either.
“Well, you know how things are, being on the road,” Ray ends up telling the DJ.
“There’s lots of groupies, lots of temptation.
Sometimes when you’re buzzed, things can take a turn you don’t expect. ”
That’s a vague enough answer, and good enough for Gene.
“Oh? Did you cheat on her with a groupie—is that what you’re saying?” the DJ asks, raising a brow.
“I don’t wish to say any more, if that’s alright,” Ray says. “Let’s just leave it there.”
“Alright, alright,” the DJ laughs, then moves on to the next question.
Later in the day, the Dusty Brooms head to Hollywood to record their segment for the New Years Rockin’ Eve TV program.
They play one song, a number they don’t perform often but feel the lyrics work well for the occasion: ‘Nothin’ Can Hold Me Down’.
Their only audience is the stage crew, Dennis, Toshiko, and even her manager Yasuhiro joins them.
But there will be many, many more people watching at home when the program airs, so Gene wants to make sure this is a performance worth remembering.
He strums the rock-’n’-roll rhythm, fast-paced and carefree, as the band accompanies him and Ray sings the verse.
He always dances so wonderfully, shaking his hips to the beat, making Gene’s cheeks heat up.
The heat rises even more as Ray walks closer to him for them to sing the chorus together, faces nearly touching:
“Don’t matter if I got no money,
if my friends aren’t hangin’ ’round.
I’ll shine my shoes on my own two feet—
Nothin’ can hold me down.”
It’s a busy day later still, as they arrive at Sunset Sound to continue recording in the studio.
They never finished enough songs to make a full album last time they were here, so this extra time is necessary.
Toshiko departs from them all, though, staying with Yasuhiro instead to work on her own music obligations.
She also won’t be staying with the Brooms at their motel either, per Yasuhiro’s request. With only a week scheduled here in LA and plans to return to Michigan for a while after this, as her manager, Yasuhiro wants to keep her mind focused on her own career.
If she stays with Gene, he knows she’ll be bound to get side-tracked.
Gene supposes that makes sense, as evidenced by their time during the summer, when she irritated Yasuhiro by how much she slacked off and smoked with Gene.
For being as sweet and posh as she is, she’s certainly not perfect. Maybe that’s why Gene likes her so much.
But now, with her gone for the week, his mind readjusts. Here at Sunset Sound with Ray and the band, it’s time to focus.
And of course, he focuses on Ray.
It’s so easy to, with Carol gone and Toshiko away as well.
This is how it was before either of them were dating anyone—just them and the music, no one else to distract them.
They gear up to practice some more songs as they head into the recording booth.
Pat clicks her drumsticks together to set the tempo and Gene starts the song off with a catchy riff.
His fingers are all healed now, so he can strum with as much force as he wants.
Stefan’s bassline follows, Nicky hits the higher notes on piano, and Santiago supports the rhythm with his own guitar.
While Ray doesn’t sing as they record the instrumental, he still helps, shaking it up with some maracas.
After a few takes, finding one they’re all happy with, they move right onto vocals. Gene doesn’t want to take a break just yet when the going is good. He heads right back into the recording booth with Ray, putting headphones on and standing close to him, sharing the same mic.
Ray sings the first verse solo, as he usually does.
Gene can’t help but stare at his gorgeous profile.
Hearing him sing so close to him, watching his mouth form the words, those lips so tantalizing, it makes Gene’s heart skip a beat.
His heart works even harder when it’s time to sing the chorus, and Gene leans in, so close he can feel Ray’s breath on his cheek—
“Moon’s in the sky, the night is young,
I’m ready, I’m ready, yeah—
Let’s shake it, baby, shake it,
Comin’ round, yeah, right at ya.”
As they finish the chorus, Gene smiles, and Ray does something he’d never expect—
He leans in and gives Gene a peck on the cheek.
Gene giggles—he can’t help it—did Ray seriously just do that? But then, he realizes, since they’re recording, they caught his giggling on tape.
“Sorry, cut, cut,” Gene says, still giggling.
He looks through the glass to the other side, watching the sound engineer mess with the knobs and buttons.
Santiago watches them too, standing next to the rest of the Brooms behind the glass, giving them both a smirk. Oh, he would smirk at that, alright.
“Ray, what are you doing?” Gene asks playfully.
“You just did such a good job singing.” Ray bats his long eyelashes at him.
“Well, alright. Thanks,” Gene chuckles, his cheeks burning. “But now we gotta do another take, since I laughed.”
“That’s fine. I’ll do however many takes, if it means I get to sing with you longer.”
Gene’s heart beats madly, wondering what everyone out in the main room is thinking, watching them. But no one seems to mind. Santi looks overjoyed, if anything. “Yeah, sure. We’ll sing as many as we need to.”
And so, they record another take—without messing up this time.
Ray doesn’t kiss his cheek again. But now Gene is eager; maybe he can get more kisses once they return to their motel.
The way Ray smiles at him, stirring up his insides, makes a fire burn within him.
It’s been too long—much too long—since he’s touched Ray.
He hasn’t tried anything because of Toshiko’s presence, but maybe, if she’s not here, he could get away with something…
But doesn’t that make me horrible, wanting to cheat on her as soon as she’s gone?
He reminds himself of something he’d told Ray all the way back on the Fourth of July.
This can be our little secret. No one has to know.
If she doesn’t know…
Gene and Ray walk out of the recording booth, back into the main room. Santi stands up from his seat, giving them a few claps.
“That was beautiful,” Santi says. “I swear, you guys exude so much chemistry! It’s always so cool, watching you sing like that.”
“Chemisty?” Gene purses his lips, then looks at Ray. “Yeah, I guess I’d say the same myself.”
“We work so well together, babe,” Ray says with a teasing smile.